Pretty Little Liars is an American teen drama, mystery–thriller television series loosely based on the popular book series of the same title, written by Sara Shepard. The show premiered on June 8, 2010 on ABC Family. After an initial order of 10 episodes, ABC Family ordered an additional 12 episodes for season one on June 28, 2010. These episodes began airing on January 3, 2011 and ended on March 21, 2011. The ratings success of the first 10 episodes prompted the book series to be extended beyond the initial eight novels.[1]

On March 26, 2013, ABC Family announced that a spin-off, Ravenswood, would air in October 2013. The spin-off show aired 10 episodes before being canceled. On June 10, 2014, Pretty Little Liars was renewed for its sixth and seventh seasons. In August 2016, it was confirmed that the series will be ending with Season 7 in 2017.[2]

Filming for the season and the series officially wrapped on October 26, 2016.[3]

Set in the small town of Rosewood, Pennsylvania, the series follows the lives of four girls, Spencer Hastings, Aria Montgomery, Hanna Marin, and Emily Fields, whose clique falls apart after the alleged murder of their leader, Alison DiLaurentis. One year later, the estranged friends are reunited as they begin receiving messages from a mysterious villain named "A" who threatens and tortures them for the mistakes they've made before and after Alison was alive. At first, they think it's Alison herself, but after her body is found, the girls realize that someone else is planning on ruining their lives.[4] Following the fifth season of the series, the girls are trying to balance as Alison is back into their lives once again.

Originally developed as a television series by book packaging company Alloy Entertainment, the idea was described as "Desperate Housewives for teens."[5] Alloy met with author Shepard, and gave her the property to develop into a book series.[5] With Alloy and Warner Horizon Television interested in producing Pretty Little Liars as a television series for years, it was first planned for The WB in 2005 with a different writer until the network shut down in early 2006 and reestablished as The CW later that year.[6] The first novel was published by HarperTeen in October 2006.[7] In June 2008, Alloy noted that it was developing a Pretty Little Liars television pilot for ABC Family,[5] with the novels adapted for television.[6] After the pilot was shot in Vancouver, filming for the rest of the series has since moved to Los Angeles.[8][9] The series is primarily filmed at the Warner Bros. studio and backlot in the city of Burbank (near Los Angeles).[10] In June 2012, the series was selected by lottery for a California film and TV tax credit.[11]

On January 7, 2011, Tilky Jones was cast as Logan Reed.[19] On April 8, 2011, Annabeth Gish was cast for the role of Anne Sullivan, a therapist who tries to find out the characters' secrets.[20] On May 23, 2011, Andrea Parker signed up to appear as Jessica DiLaurentis, Alison's mother.[21] On June 29, 2011, it was announced that Natalie Hall would be replacing Natalie Floyd as Hanna's soon-to-be stepsister, Kate.[22] On January 30, 2012, The Hollywood Reporter reported that Tyler Blackburn had been promoted to series regular for the third season.[23] In March 2012, Janel Parrish was also promoted from recurring to series regular for the third season.[24] On March 16, 2016, TVLine reported that Andrea Parker was added as a series regular for the seventh season.[25]

Pretty Little Liars was called one of the most spectacular new shows of summer 2010 thanks to heavy promotion by ABC Family, including "spicy promos and hot posters".[26] ABC Family encouraged fans to host a "Pretty Little Premiere Party" for the show by sending the first respondents a fan kit,[27] and selected applicants to become part of an interactive "Secret Keeper Game" played with iPhones provided by the network.[28] The show's official Facebook and Twitter accounts also promoted special fan features, including a "Pretty Little Lie Detector".[29] Los Angeles department store Kitson showcased the show in their shop window.[30]

A tie-in edition featuring the Season 1 poster and logo of the 2006 first novel in the Pretty Little Liars series was released on the date of the show's premiere,[31] as was the final book of the original book series, "Wanted".[32] "Wanted" later decidedly became the eighth book of the series, as Shepard later confirmed she would extend the series. A TV tie in of the second book "Flawless" featuring an altered Season 3 poster was released on December 28, 2010.

Troian Bellisario portrays Spencer Hastings. Spencer is an extreme perfectionist who likes to please her wealthy family, and her friends. She is very competitive, and an overachiever. Spencer is strong willed, smart, and kind towards everyone around her, but isn't afraid to take down someone who is a threat to something she cares about. She was in a relationship with Toby Cavanaugh (Keegan Allen) for most of the first six and a half seasons. Toby later joins the Rosewood Police Force to protect Spencer. Tired of being the victim, Spencer was a brief member of the "A" team after she thinks that she finds Toby in the woods killed by "A", but finds out from Mona that he is still alive and the only way to get to him is to become part of the team. She then learns that the only reason Toby joined the "A" team was to protect her. After the five year jump, Spencer is dating Caleb Rivers (Tyler Blackburn) and lives in Washington DC.

Ashley Benson portrays Hanna Marin. Hanna used to have an eating disorder. She was overweight, with the nickname 'Hefty Hanna'. After Alison Dilaurentis disappeared, Hanna lost weight and changed her style, which seemed similar to Ali's, with the help of her new best friend Mona Vanderwaal. Over the course of the series, Hanna cares more about the people around her and tries to protect herself and her friends. She has had few love affairs through the series and was in a relationship with Caleb Rivers. After the time jump, Hanna is engaged to Jordan and working in the fashion industry.

Lucy Hale portrays Aria Montgomery. Aria is the artsy chameleon who is very intelligent, caring, and has a good sense of style. She's the one who keeps her family together. Aria spent some time as a "goth". She wore black, punk-like clothing and had pink highlights in her hair. After Alison disappeared, Aria and her family moved to Iceland for a year (because of Alison's disappearance) before returning to Rosewood. When Aria and her family moved back to Rosewood, she was no longer a "goth" as she used to be, she was a girly-girl. Aria had a relationship with her English teacher, Ezra Fitz (Ian Harding) from the very first episode of the entire show, but they decided to end their relationship before Aria went to college. After the time jump, Aria dates her co-worker, Liam, and then breaks up with him after she and her Ezra start 'dating' again. Ezra then proposes to her and they get engaged.

Shay Mitchell portrays Emily Fields. Emily is the sporty one in the group. She is the best swimmer on the swim team, and she's very sweet and loyal. Emily is a shy, kind 'closeted lesbian', who was in love with Alison DiLaurentis. Over the course of the series, Emily came out to her parents that she was in a relationship with Maya St. Germain. After Maya's murder, Emily develops a relationship with Paige McCullers in season 3. They're together for a while, until Paige betrays Emily's trust. Alison confesses her feelings for Emily. After the time jump, Emily has dropped out of the university she attended in California after the death of her father and she came back to Rosewood with a secret.

Sasha Pieterse portrays Alison DiLaurentis , former "Queen Bee" of her clique and the most popular girl in school before her disappearance. She enjoys using people's deepest secrets against them to keep them in line. Charming and manipulative, Alison managed to manipulate all four of her friends in one way or another and is skilled at finding ways to blackmail others. It was later revealed that Alison is alive and was on the run from "A". After the five-year time jump, Alison marries a man posing as Dr. Elliott Rollins, who was her sister Charlotte's "mental" doctor. In the beginning of Season 7 Alison finds out that he is not the ("good") man that she thought she married and with the help of the other girls they manage to kill him (instead of getting a divorce). Alison is now an English teacher at Rosewood High and dating Emily Fields.

Janel Parrish portrays Mona Vanderwaal, the original and first "A". She is the person who stalked Alison before her disappearance, and did this as revenge for Alison crowning her "Rosewood's biggest loser". After Alison disappeared she became best friends with Hanna Marin and they transformed themselves into the most popular girls at school, taking Alison's place. In the season two finale she is exposed as "A" and sent to Radley Sanitarium, where she is visited by CeCe Drake (Charlotte DiLaurentis), with whom takes up Mona's previous place in the "A" game. In Season 3, she continues illegal "A" activities and by the end of the season is kicked off the "A" team and becomes a victim of "A" along with the other girls. In Season 4, she helps the girls out with their investigations of the new "A". In season 5, she creates an army so as not to be intimidated by Alison's return. Later in the season, she fakes her own death to ferret out "A" but is kidnapped by "A" and imprisoned in "A"'s dollhouse. After the time jump, Mona is working for Veronica Hastings' rival for State Senator.

Rosewood is a fictional town in the United States state of Pennsylvania. It is the principal setting of the series and the books. The Liars live in this town along with most of the other characters. It contains many principal locations: the police station, the Rosewood High School, the church, the Rosewood Shopping Center, Hollis College, the Rosewood Community Hospital, the Rosewood movie theater, the mausoleum, the dental office, the Ophthalmology Cabinet, and the Rosewood Court.

Virtually all these locations are actually exteriors on the backlot of the Warner Bros. studio lot in Burbank. Interior scenes are filmed separately on nearby soundstages. For example, different sides of the same building on the backlot are used for the entrances of the Rosewood police station and high school.

The intertitle in the opening credits used since the show's inception.

Pretty Little Liars premiered on June 8, 2010 in the United States, becoming ABC Family's highest-rated series debut on record across the network's target demographics.[35] It ranked number one in key 12–34 demos and teens, becoming the number-one scripted show in Women 18–34, and Women 18–49. The premiere was number two in the hour for total viewers, which generated 2.47 million unique viewers, and was ABC Family's best delivery in the time slot since the premiere of The Secret Life of the American Teenager.

The second episode retained 100% of its premiere audience with 2.48 million viewers, despite the usual downward trend following a premiere of a show, and built on its premiere audience. It was the dominant number one of its time slot in Adults 18–49, and the number one show in female teens.[36] Subsequent episodes fluctuated between 2.09 and 2.74 million viewers.[37][38] The August 10, 2010 "Summer Finale" episode drew an impressive 3.07 million viewers.

On June 28, 2010, ABC Family ordered 12 more episodes of the show, bringing its total first-season order to 22.[39] On January 10, 2011, ABC Family picked the show up for a second season that premiered on June 14, 2011. During the summer of 2011, Pretty Little Liars was basic cable's top scripted series in women aged 18–34 and viewers 12–34.[40][41] The second half of season 2 aired on Mondays at 8/7c, beginning on January 2, 2012.[42]

On November 29, 2011, ABC Family renewed the show for a third season, which consisted of 24 episodes.[43][44] On October 4, 2012, ABC Family announced that the show was renewed for a fourth season, again comprising 24 episodes. The second half of the third season began airing on January 8, 2013 and finished March 19, 2013. Pretty Little Liars returned for Season 4 on June 11, 2013. On March 25, 2013, it was again announced that Pretty Little Liars had been renewed for a fifth season scheduled for a 2014 air date and a new spin off show entitled Ravenswood would begin airing after the season four annual Halloween special in October 2013.[45] The second half of season four premiered on January 7, 2014.[46] It was announced on June 10, 2014 that Pretty Little Liars was renewed for two seasons, making the show ABC Family's longest running original hit series.[47] On August 29, 2016, I.Marlene King announced that Pretty Little Liars would be ending after the seventh season had aired. The second-half of the seventh season will begin airing later than previous season, in April instead of January.[48]

Pretty Little Liars opened with mixed reviews. Metacritic gave the pilot episode 52 out of 100, based upon 14 critical reviews.[49] The New York Daily News gave the show a positive review, commenting that it "makes most popular vampire romances look anemic", while concluding, "Pretty Little Liars could go in several directions, including mundane teen clichés. It's got an equally good shot at making us care about these imperfect pretty girls."[50] A writer on Terror Hook has stated that " 'Pretty Little Liars' gets off to a very promising start. Great production all around, the writing keeps the viewer on their toes, and the acting just reinforces it. The overall mystery of the show in the end is dark and unpredictable, even stepping into the slasher film realm."[51] The New York Post gave the show three out of five stars, stating, "OK, so we've established that there is no socially redeeming value in this series and that your kids shouldn't watch it if they are too young and impressionable. But if you can distract them enough to miss the first 15 minutes, the show isn't half-bad. Actually, it is half-good, if that makes sense."[52] The Los Angeles Times wrote that the series is "one of those shows that manages to mildly, and perhaps unintentionally, spoof its genre while fully participating in it, and that's not a bad thing at all."[53]

Since the series premiere, the show has remained popular. The series earned its highest rated episode with 4.20 million total viewers, ranking among ABC Family's top 5 telecasts in adult viewers 18–34, total viewers and women viewers.[56] The highest rated episodes include season one's finale, with 3.64 million, and season two's premiere and finale episodes, each yielding nearly 3.7 million viewers.[57][58][59] The show stands as the most watched series on ABC Family, maintaining a steady viewership of over 2.5 million and currently standing as the only show to yield an average of over 2 million viewers.